The present invention relates to a connecting and alignment mechanism for cabinet modules, particularly cabinet modules which must be accurately aligned and connected one to the other. The invention has particular application in connecting photocopy, laser, or other printer output modules where accurate alignment of paper transport devices is necessary.
Photocopy, laser printer, and other similar devices typically consist of a main printer or photocopy machine which processes paper or other materials in a particular manner and which outputs that paper to a channel or slot located on one side of the main unit. To provide for manufacturing flexibility and yet provide products satisfying many differing customer demands, it may be desirable to manufacture a basic photocopying or laser printing machine and manufacture different output modules, for example collators, binding or stapling units, and similar devices, which mate with the basic photocopying or laser printing machine. Such modules can be aligned with the main unit in various fashions to provide a variety of functions.
The various modules, of course, must communicate one with the other and, perhaps most importantly, must provide for accurate alignment of paper transport paths between the various modules. Prior attempts to solve the problems of accurate alignment have resulted in complex systems which are expensive to manufacture and maintain, and which do not provide an alignment and locking mechanism which is accurate and easy to operate.
The connecting and alignment mechanism of the present invention provides a simple, inexpensively contructed highly accurate connecting and alignment mechanism which is easy to install, remove, and operate, obviating the problems caused by previous aligning and locking systems.
The connecting and aligning mechanism of the present invention comprises male-female docking channels mounted on the upper portion of facing wall members of adjacent output modules to provide vertical positioning and latching, and a docking pin and receptical mounted on the lower wall portion of facing adjacent wall members of output modules for providing lateral positioning. The docking channels are formed in a male-female combination, that is, male aligning members on a first channel member mate with female aligning apertures in a second channel member. A rotating latch member on the first channel member provides a locking engagement with a pin means on the second channel member. The first and second channel members are formed of identical lengths of channel material having two pairs of vertically spaced apertures, an elongated slot formed in the center thereof, and a vertically disposed pin secured across the legs of the channel member adjacent the slot. A single channel member so manufactured is used as the basis for constructing both the first and second channel members, thereby decreasing expensive tooling and other manufacturing costs. In constructing the first channel member, male aligning members or pins are secured in a first pair of the two pairs of vertically spaced apertures and a latching hook is rotatably mounted about the vertically disposed pin adjacent the elongated slot. The second channel member is used "as is", namely the second pair of vertically spaced apertures form the female aligning apertures in the second channel member, and the vertically disposed pin forms the mating pin member for the latching means. Thus, manufacture of the connecting and aligning mechanism of the present invention is rendered extraordinarily simple and economical, yet produces an extremely accurate and secure mechanism for connecting multiple modular cabinets.
In operation, a cabinet bearing a first channel member having male aligning members and the latching member is simply wheeled into position adjacent a cabinet bearing the second channel member having the female aligning apertures. The male aligning members are inserted into the female aligning apertures which provides immediate vertical positioning of the two cabinets. Coincidentally, the lateral positioning male-female members on the lower portions of the facing adjacent wall members of the modular cabinets are mated, and the cabinets are thus positioned laterally. As the male members on the first channel member are mated with the female apertures on the second channel member, the latching hook of the first channel member passes through the corresponding elongated slot formed in the second channel member and engages the vertically extending pin disposed adjacent that slot. Rotatable positioning feet located on the bottom of the cabinet provide further stable positioning.
Therefore, a principal object of the connecting and aligning mechanism of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple, inexpensively constructed but highly accurate connecting and aligning mechanism for modular cabinets which insures an aligned paper transport path, while permitting variations in floor levels to be compensated for.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a connecting and aligning mechanism which is easy to install and remove.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become evident in light of the following detailed description, viewed in conjunction with the referenced drawings, of a preferred exemplary system according to the invention. The foregoing and following description of the invention is for exemplary purposes only. The true spirit and scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.